


Old Beginnings and New Endings

by otakugirl1500



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, But Nothing Too Bad, Confident Huang Renjun, DREAMies are kinda assholes, Flashbacks, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Mentions of WinWin - Freeform, Mentions of Xiaojun, Mentions of YangYang, Misunderstandings, Not Beta Read, Time Skips, Use of NCT real names, change of POV, hints of polyamory, kinda angsty, lots of swearing, not for long though, renjun-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 17,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22858198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/otakugirl1500/pseuds/otakugirl1500
Summary: “Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love people who treat you right. Forget about those who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it.” – Harvey MacKay.He trusted but got betrayed. He loved but got rejected. He moved on but got returned.[ Please read Notes from Author. Thank you:) ]
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Moon Taeil/Nakamoto Yuta, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Lee Taeyong/Qian Kun, Liu Yang Yang/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 20
Kudos: 69





	1. Notes from Author

Hey guys, before reading the story, couple of things to note: 

1\. I haven't been writing creative pieces for a long time (about 4ish years) and I don't have a beta reader ￣\\_(ッ)_/￣

2\. English is my second language

3\. The story uses NCT members' real names

4\. I switch between names: for example Donghyuck to Hyuck, Dongyoung to Doyoung. It is intentional and is important to the dynamics between characters

5\. I will update every Saturday (3 chapters a day). 

6\. Apologies for profanities but I had to

7\. There will be change in POV and flashbacks and time skips, I will indicate separations in notes section at the beginning of each chapter 

8\. Also, some chapters are a little bit smaller than the rest

9\. DREAMies are kinda mean here, but I love them from the bottom of my heart so don't be offended

10\. Mark IS a DREAMie! OT7 Forever!

11\. Enjoy!


	2. Chapter 1

The first time he saw them was at a local Starbucks. He thought they were stunning, almost unreal, because humans cannot be that beautiful. Their faces perfectly sculptured, bodies toned, and voices roughened. One of them – he called him “Bubble Gum” – had perfectly gelled pink hair that exposed his forehead. He wore white pants, white short-sleeved jacket with a grey long-sleeved shirt underneath. It was a simple look but as saying goes, a right person can make even the simplest outfit look good. The other one had stronger facial features. He had a similar hair style, except his was black. He decided to call him “Just Black” since he wore everything black: black shirt, black jeans, black leather jacket, and black boots.

But their looks were just the tip of the iceberg, for he was smitten with their smiles. Bubble Gum’s smile was the brightest thing he had ever seen, he bet that it could lit up the whole room. Not only was his smile addictive, his laugh was just as addictive for he wanted to smile just by hearing Bubble Gum’s laugh.

Just Black was nothing less of perfect. Whenever he flashed a smile, his eyes would create crescent moons, and his strong features would soften making him look like a Samoyed. Seeing such beauty and happiness, he could do nothing but stare from the corner.

A few weeks passed, plagued by the beauty of Just Black’s smile and happiness of Bubble Gum’s laugh, he learned that they went to the same high school. Just Black ended up being in same homeroom and chemistry class, while Bubble Gum was in his English class. A couple of days into a semester, he finally learned their names. Bubble Gum – or Jaemin – approached him when they needed to create pairs for activity. Just Black – Jeno – was partnered up with him for the lab portion. Soon enough, they became inseparable. You couldn’t see one without the other two.

Three years later, they entered the same university, rented an apartment together, and even created their own little group. First, they met Lee Donghyuck. Donghyuck was majoring in accounting, just like he did. In fact, they met each other in their shared Intro to Business class. And he honestly considered him his soulmate. Then they met Mark Lee. Mark was older than them by one year, and Hyuck had the biggest crush on him (it also didn’t help that they were childhood friends). He saw Mark as his support, his hyung, someone he looked up too. A year later, they met a couple, Chenle and Jisung who just entered university. Chenle, being a fellow Chinese, connected with him fast. He saw him as his didi. And of course, Jisung was just an awkward baby who was practically a hazard to himself, there is no way he could leave him be. The group adopted the babies thus completing what Hyuck jokingly called Dreamies. And he would never admit it, but he loved the name a lot.

Apart from gaining two more friends, there was an even bigger change that occurred in his life. In the second year of college, Jaemin and Jeno finally got together. And he was happy for them; he really was. He knew that there were in love with each other practically the first time he saw them at Starbucks. But it hurt. It hurt so bad. He was in love with them as long as he could remember. Of course, he knew that nothing would come out of this love, after all, what kind of freak would agree to be in a three-way relationship. But even knowing that, recognizing he eminent heartbreak, he couldn’t stop loving them or hurting. It didn’t help that after they got together, they continue to shower him with love: random kisses to cheek, forehead, neck, hugs, cuddles. It was unbearable.

In the middle of the third semester, he couldn’t hold it anymore; he snapped. All the mixed signals and seeing them being lovely couple on daily basis was taking a toll on him. Sleepless nights were finally catching up to him, his grades were slipping; he was losing his sanity. Coming up with no other conclusion, he confessed. He confessed everything he could: his love, his pain, his wishes. Somewhere deep inside, he had this little hope that these signals were not platonic, and even though he was more than sure that he would get rejected, he still held onto that little hope.

But as fast their friendship blossomed, it withered just as fast. After the confession, Jaemin looked apologetic and Jeno looked like was about to cry. He promised them that he was not doing to pursue anything. He assured them that it was to finally free himself. In return, they promised that nothing would change, maybe there would be awkward moments for the first couple of months, but otherwise they promised that nothing would change.

Yet nothing was the same anymore. Jeno and Jaemin stopped coming home claiming that they are busy with group projects and exams. Mark, Hyuck, Chenle, and Jisung stopped inviting him out with them. Six of them would make plans without him every week… right in front of him. It hurt worse than rejection did. Not only did he lose his best friends, he also lost his soulmate, his pillar, and his younger brothers. And that kept going until the winter break began. Usually, they would spend their winter breaks together. Seven of them would go on a trip or hang out at each other’s places. But this year, everyone suddenly decided to leave “to go home”. Of course, he knew that they went together as six to a ski resort.

A week into winter break, he silently bought ticket, packed his suitcases, and sent some things through mail. He finally made a decision to return back to Jilin. He decided to take a semester off, then apply to a local college to complete his major. It wasn’t so bad, at least he would have a chance starting anew.

On December 28th, he flew back to a place that he once left leaving behind everything that he thought he would never leave.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dashed line (- - - - ) means time skip  
> Italicized = thoughts

Waking up early was still a challenge, even after working at a company for two years. After, finishing university, he went through Accelerated Master’s program which allowed him to obtain master’s in a year. Now at the age of 25, he worked at a respectable company – Kim Holdings – as a financial advisor in Beijing.

He turned his coffee machine on, took shower, dressed himself, made breakfast, ate, cleaned the dishes, and was out of the doors by 7:36. This is the routine that seems boring, but it provided him a sense of security. After everything that went down in his college years, sense of security was the most important things… at least according to his psychologist.

Upon arriving to work just on time, he was called to his boss’ office. After knocking on the door, he entered the office and was greeted by a smiling face of Qian Kun. Kun-ge, as he called him, was a man in his late twenties who was in charge of the Beijing branch of Kim Holdings.

“Sir, you called me?”

“Yes, you are being reassigned to a new location.”

“Excuse me, but where exactly am I being relocated? And why so sudden?”

“Seoul. As you know, our headquarters are located there. They are currently undergoing big changes. Director Kim is retiring, and he has assigned one of his trusted employers to take over the company. I have no idea who the owner is as a person, but they are in dire need of someone skilled to help them structuralized the changes,” signed Kun-ge, “especially in the financing sector. Also, apparently from now on, we will be called J&J Co. Just received an email about it.”

To be completely honest, after Kun-ge said the location of his reassignment, he zoned out. He did not want to go back under any circumstances – too many bad memories are associated with that place. _Get yourself together! It’s been six years_. “But why me? Surely someone like Ten-ge or Yukhei would be in a better position to attend matters such as these.” _Okay, maybe I’m not that ready._

“It wouldn’t be the case in this situation. First of all, you used to live in Korea and even completed half of your degree there, therefore, you have the knowledge on the Korea corporate laws and structures. Second, out of all of us, you speak the best Korean. Plus, you were the top students. You literally graduated as an honor student.”

Sighing, he asked, “when am I expected there?”

“In a week.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

And that’s, ladies and gentlemen, how he found himself standing in front of a CEO’s door. First thing he noticed was the name. Oddly enough it said, “CEO Lee and Lee.” _Wait, there are two CEOs? With both last names Lee? Are they married? Man, I should’ve done my research before flying in here._

 _Knock, knock,_ “President Lee, may I come in?”

The voice responded, “Yes, you may.” But once he walked inside, he realized that no one was there. A little bit spooked and puzzled, he stood there for about a minute trying to figure out where are the CEOs.

Suddenly, a different voice spoke, “You must be out new financial advisor? Welcome!” For some odd reasons, he found the voices to be oddly familiar, but quickly dismissed the idea because there is no way he knows these people.

About to introduce himself, he spun around only to be met with the most beautiful faces that he never wished to see ever again. He could feel blood draining from his face, his legs shaking, his body turning icy cold.

“R-Ren-Renjun?” asked person on the left, the same person who he once affectionately called “Nana”.

“Renjun? As in Dong Renjun?... How…? No way… But your last name…” stuttered person on the right, the same person who he once lovingly called “Nono”.

Seeing them together brought him back to that local Starbucks where he saw them for the first time. Except now Bubble Gum wears indigo suit, while Just Black still wears black but instead it’s an expensive three-piece suit. And maybe in a different universe, these memories are fond memories that he would gladly relive, but in this one, they are nothing but pain.

 _Remember you are a professional. Remember that these people don’t know the present you, and you don’t know these people. Remember that you let go of everything. Remember that they abandoned you_. 

With the sweetest smile he could muster, he introduced himself, “Good morning, my name is Huang Renjun from Beijing branch. It is an honor to meet people whom President Kim personally hand-picked to be his successors,” he bowed. “I hope we can get along,” he extended his hand. Still shocked from seeing Renjun, neither Jaemin nor Jeno registered the extended hand. After awkwardly holding it there for twenty seconds, Renjun took it back.

“Renjun, what are you doing here?” asked Jaemin.

“I’m the professional that your branch has requested from Beijing. My apologies if my expertise won’t be enough, but I will try my best,” bowed Renjun. “Jen… I mean President Lee, if I may be excused, I still have yet to meet Department’s Head.” And without hearing the response, he flew from that terrifying situation. Once he closed the doors, he immediately ran to the bathrooms.

_Why now? Why them? Why here? Why after so long? Why? Why? Why???_

He can’t control himself. Tears are flowing and it seems as if they won’t stop. He is hyperventilating, and realization dawns on him that he is having an anxiety attack. He tries to calm himself, tries to remember all the techniques Doctor Xiao taught him. Slowly he begins to regain his control. After fully calming down, he washes his face, and tries to cover up his face with make-up. Finishing up last touches, he realizes that he was supposed to meet Department’s Head.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Italicized = thoughts

“Excuse me, sir. This is Huang Renjun from Beijing’s branch,” he announced.

“Ah, yes, please come in, Mr. Huang,” responded Department’s Head. Once inside, Renjun observed the room. It was simple, nothing was out of place, nothing too extraordinary, and most importantly, it was minimalistic. The Department’s Head, Jung Dongyoung was the same age as Kun-ge, and he really resembled a bunny. Renjun found it absolutely adorable. “Mr. Huang, is everything alright? You were supposed to be here earlier.”

“Apologies, Mr. Jung. I got lost in trying to find my way back.”

“No worries, it is your first day here. Not to repeat the mistake, I’ll assign a person to you to show you around for the next couple of weeks,” decided Dongyoung. “Lee Donghyuck! Please come to my office!”

 _No, no, no, no, no!!! No way! Anyone but him! Please be a different Lee Donghyuck! Please! I’m begging…_ As Renjun was saying his prayers, Mr. Jung’s door opened to reveal an embodiment of sunshine. He was sporting a playful smile and light brown hair. He looked exactly as he did six years old. “How can I help you, Doyoung-hyung?”

“Donghyuck, this is Huang Renjun from Beijing. I need you to show him around since he just transferred.” Only after Dongyoung introduced him did Hyuck registered that there was a third person. Slowly turning around, his eyes became wider as he realized who exactly they were talking about.

He mouthed silent “Injunnie…” but was unable to produce a sound. Seeing how shocked he looked, Renjun took it upon himself to start the introduction, “Good morning, Mr. Lee. My name is Huang Renjun. I will be in your care for the next couple of weeks.”

Once he heard Renjun, Hyuck unfroze and finally spoke directly at him, “Hello… my n-name is Lee Donghyuck, or you can c-call m-me Hyuck…” he extended his hand, which I “happily” shook.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Lee.”

Once Dongyoung went over the logistics, we were free to go back to the office. The walk was heavy. One could practically see the tension and cut it with the knife. The entire time, Hyuck kept looking at Renjun, opening and closing his mouth.

“Do you have something you want to say, Mr. Lee?” Renjun decided to put him out of misery.

“It’s been a long time, Renjun. How… how have you been?” he asked hesitantly.

Renjun couldn’t help but scoff at the question. _‘How have I been?’ he asks… living, no, surviving is more like it, Hyuck. That’s how I’ve been…_ _If answer I like this, I wonder how he will react?_ “I have no idea what you are talking about, Mr. Lee. I don’t remember being acquainted with you.”

“Renjun, don’t be like this… we were best friends…”

Words “best friend” made him stop walking. He honestly wasn’t planning to snap but he couldn’t help the anger that rose within him, “Yes, Donghyuck. We WERE best friends, emphasis on the word ‘were’. Until you abandoned me without explanation. You left me when I needed you the most. All of a sudden, I was not worth to be included in the plans Dreamies made. All of a sudden, I became this worthless, disposable, disgusting piece of shit. All of a sudden, I became this person who betrayed his best friends’ trust. So, yes, Hyuck, we were best friends. But just like you changed, I changed as well. Now, we are nothing more than strangers, and forced co-workers.”

“Renjun, please don’t do this.”

“Hyuck, I’ll say it only once. It was not me who started this, it was you who did it. All I’m doing right now is playing the game that you guys started, and I’m enjoying it way too much to finish it. So please, Mr. Lee, let’s continue this game of ‘I don’t want to be associated with Renjun’,” I smiled.

“Are you going to be like this with everyone?”

“What do you mean by 'everyone'?”

“You know, Mark, Chenle, and Jisung also work here.”

“Of course, they would be… I’m not even surprised,” he muttered. “Yes, Mr. Lee, I will be like that with Mr. Lee, Mr. Zhong, and Mr. Park.” That being said, Renjun walked ahead, arriving at the office a little before Donghyuck did.

As he walked into the office, he registered that there are two more people working with him and Donghyuck, _thank god it’s not someone from the group_. “Hello! My name is Renjun, I’m from Beijing. I hope we can be friends!” Hearing the last line, Hyuck realized that he never said these words to him.

“Hi, Renjun! I’m Jungwoo, I’ve been working here for about three years. Thank god you are here!” he gave him a hug, which Renjun happily returned.

“Now, now Jungwoo, you are scaring him,” said a very tall man. He then faced Renjun, “Hey, I’m Youngho. Transferred here two years ago from Chicago branch.”

“Oh my god, can you be my moral support please? I literally need one right now!” whined Renjun.

“Of course!” laughed Youngho. “You can call us ‘Youngho-hyung’ and ‘Jungwoo-hyung’ if you want.”

“My name is Renjun, but you can call me Injun or even Jun,” smiled Renjun. He finally felt like he could relax and honestly, it was the first time since coming to this branch that he felt genially happy.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone for liking the story so far! I hope I would't disappoint.   
> This chapter will have suicide mentions, so if it causes you discomfort or if it's triggering, please skip the chapter.

The next few days flew by fast. Thankfully, Renjun didn’t run into any of the Dreamies. Even better was that Dongyoung deemed Renjun capable to work independently two days after assigning Donghyuck. And though they worked in the same department, Renjun rarely saw him anyways.

A couple more days later, Jeno and Jaemin called a meeting for all the important figures in the reformation of the system. Although he wasn’t thrilled to be meeting them again, he was thrilled in meeting the rest of the team. He assumed that if they were just like Jungwoo-hyung and Youngho-hyung, then he will have a blast despite seeing JenJaem.

 _Ready, Renjun?_ He opened the door, and without looking, bowed, “Good morning, everyone. I was just added to the project. My name is Huang Renjun. Nice to meet you all."

“Nice to see you again, Renjun-hyung,” said one of the voices. Renjun slowly looked up to see the faces of the people he would be closely working with for at least a year.

 _Nononononono! I’m not doing do this again! No fucking way!_ “I’m sorry but do we know each other?”

“Renjun, stop…” pleaded Mark.

“Stop? Stop what? I’m 100% positive that I’ve never met anyone of you before? Except Mr. Lee, and President Lee and Lee,” Renjun explained calmly. _I wasn’t joking when I said that I will be playing the game that you all started six years ago. Except now, it will be on my rules._

“Renjun-ge, can you please stop this nonsense?” asked Chenle in Chinese.

“I’m sorry, but only one person can call me Renjun-ge, and his name is YangYang,” he responded back in Chinese. That hurt Chenle deeper than he thought it would, but it seemed like Renjun could care less. Which in all honesty was like 98% true.

“Renjun-hyung, is there nothing we can do for us to go back?” desperately asked Jisung.

“Once again, I do not know any of you. Can you please refrain from using words like ‘ge’ and ‘hyung’?”

"Renjun! Please stop this nonsense! We are all Dreamies here! Literally best friends!” shouted Jeno.

“Jun, please talk to us,” pleaded Jaemin.

“’Best friends’?” scoffed Renjun. “I don’t recall ever being ‘best friends’” with you,” ‘best friend’ was said with so much venom that if words could poison, the room would already be dead. “And you guys want to talk? After six years? You finally want to talk?” He could see everyone flinch. “Fine, I’ll talk. Let’s call this List of Grievances by Huang (Dong) Renjun. Shall we begin? Oh, and no interruptions please, it is kinda rude.”

Giving a glace over everyone, his eyes stopped on Hyuck, “Hyuckie, how have you been, buddy?” he faked the sweetness in his voice. “I have only one thing to say to you Hyuckie,” he looked him dead in the eyes and changed his voice to serious, “you are a complete asshole, you know that? Do you have any idea how I felt when the person I called my ‘soulmate’ turned his back against me? Do you have any idea how much I needed you at that time? How much it hurt? Do you have any idea that you destroyed my trust in friendships? Like completely?

"Not to sound pathetic, but since your betrayal, I wasn’t able to make friends with anyone for about four years. You have no idea what people had to do in order for me to open up to them. Things that I don’t think you are capable of doing for me. But that is not the point here. The point is you fucking BETRAYED me when I needed you!” he yelled. “You broke me beyond repair and trust me I tried,” he whispered the last part.

Then he slowly laid his eyes on Mark, his once support, his pillar of strength. “Dear Mark-hyung... god I hate even calling you ‘hyung’. But since I want to speak as if I did back in the days, I guess for the time being, I’ll refer to you as ‘hyung’.” Taking a breath, he continued, “Hyung, did you know that you were my pillar of strength? I don’t know if I ever told you, but when I had problems in my life, you always managed to make everything better. Not gonna lie, I had a small crush on you,” giggled Renjun. “But that’s beside the point.

"The point is when you left, I hope you realize that you brought me DOWN on my KNEES, hyung. Or you could say that you DROWNED me! And no one was there to save me!” Then he quietly added, “because everyone I trusted to save me, left me.”

He wanted to talk to Chenle next, but he refused to make eye-contact with him. “Chenle, please look at me for a second. I think you own your ge that much, don’t you think?” he asked innocently. Once Chenle gained courage to look at Renjun’s eyes, he continued, “You know Chenle, out of everyone here, you and Hyuck were the two people I thought I would never lose. When I first met you, in my head, I already called my didi. I never had younger siblings and honestly, I never wanted any. That is until I met you. I imagined that if I ever had one, I want them to be like you.

"So, imagine my state when I wanted to hang out with my didi to stabilize my mental health, only for him to tell me he is busy… busy hanging out with his OTHER hyungs.” Seeing guilty look on Chenle face, made him feel guilty as well, so he quickly moved to Jisung.

“Jisung Pwark, you’ve grown. Do you still hang up on your hyungs’ phone calls? Oh! Wait, that was just me. That’s right, my bad,” he sarcastically answered his own question. “When we first met, my first thought was, ‘I want to protect him no matter what happens. He is literally a hazard to himself.’ I truly wanted to shield you from everything bad that happened in this world.

"I realize that at the time that things went down, you weren’t necessarily the most emotionally mature, but I don’t think I asked for much. Unless you count getting ice cream as a physically and emotionally draining activity.” Without looking at his reaction, his eyes landed on Jaemin and Jeno.

“I honestly don’t even want to talk you. No. I don’t even want to look at you. Like at all. But since this is _my_ list of grievances, your portion is actually the longest, but I’ll try to keep it short,” he smiled. “Truth be told, I wanted to hate you. I really did. But when I was reflecting on the situation, I realized that I cannot really blame you. I don’t know your reasons for turning yourself and everyone against me, but if it was done to protect your relationships, then I can’t blame you.

"However, I would like to say a couple of things. First, you know, you didn’t have to promise me that everything will be okay. If you would’ve told me that you needed space from me, trust me I would’ve given it to you without making any fuss. Second, would’ve really killed you if you just, I don’t know, not make others be dicks to me? I would like to think that I was your friend, and shouldn’t friends care for the well-being of each other? And lastly,” he took a breath, “I don’t know if you understand the depth of the wound you left on my heart and mind, so let me illustrate it for you.

"Not too long ago, my co-worker by the name of Wong Yukhei asked me out on a date. And if you'd seen him, he puts any guy to shame. He is attractive, caring, he is everything I wish you were. Including mine. He was head over heels in love with me. And he confessed to me. Of course, I said yes to him,” he paused.

Yukhei, to this day, is the closest thing he experienced to love. Renjun was really happy that he found Ten-ge. “But after a month of dating, I was forced to break-up with him. You want to know why? Because every time I close my eyes, I can imagine the same scenario happening with Yukhei. My fear of losing him forced me to take actions. And though I didn’t love him yet, he was the closest thing to love that I had since you. I guess I can say, congratulations on making me be afraid of love,” he stopped for about ten seconds. “Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I’m done.”

“Jun… I am so sorry, I’m sorry, please forgive me,” cried Hyuck. “I just want-“ he was unable to finish as sobs took over his ability to talk.

“You want what Hyuckie? Because if it’s friendship you desire then that’s the one of the only two things that I cannot offer anymore. I’m tired. I was betrayed only once, but that betrayal almost resulted in my…” he caught himself before mentioning anything else. _Stupid, why would you bring this up? You were supposed to forget it, move on, remember what Doctor Xiao said._

“Jun? Resulted in what?” asked Mark.

“Nothing of your concern, Mr. Lee,” snapped Renjun.

“Renjun, did you perhaps… attempted suicide?...” whispered Jeno.

He internally face-palmed, _how could you be so careless_. “I’m leaving, we are done here.”

“Huang Renjun! You are not moving anywhere until you answer all of our questions,” commanded Jeno.

“Excuse me?! Who the fuck do you think you are Lee Jeno?! Who gave you the right to talk to me like this?! After everything you put me through, you have a fucking audacity to command me?!” Renjun was seething. “You wanna know what happened? Fine! I’ll fucking show it to you,” he said as began removing his watch and bracelets attach to it. “Ta-fucking-Da!”

Once he exposed his wrists, Jisung and Jaemin broke down in sobs, Chenle’s and Hyuck’s knee buckled, while Mark and Jeno did not know how to react, they just stared into the distance.

“’DiD yOu PeRhApS aTtEmTeD sUiCiDe?’ he asks, tch,” scoffed Renjun, and walked out of the conference room.


	6. Chapter 5

_I am so submitting my resignation letter! Who gave them the right to corner me like that?! ‘Best friends’? HA!_ Renjun was angry. No, that’s wrong. He was pissed off. Not only did they practically staged an intervention, they also made him expose things that he wanted to hide forever.

But behind the anger, he was also really sad. Seeing all of their faces again… He realized how much he actually missed them. He can pretend he doesn’t know them. He can pretend that he hates them. But he cannot pretend that the memories in his mind were fake. No, they are too real to be fake.

He can’t pretend that the days when he and Hyuck would study 'till ungodly hours didn’t happen. He can’t pretend that the days when he and Mark would sit and talk about life, share their emotions and pains didn’t happen. He can’t pretend that the days when he and Chenle would watch a movie and laugh at all the stupid decisions while eating a ton of unhealthy food didn’t happen. He can’t pretend that the days when he and Jisung would talk about aliens and conspiracy theories didn’t happen. He can’t pretend that he didn’t love Jeno and Jaemin. He can’t, and it hurts so much.

Belatedly, he realized that he is not wearing his bracelets and watch. _Shit! I dropped them at the conference room! What should I do?_ He contemplated on going back, but after the whole fiasco? No, he did not want to face that. Lost in debating what to do, he failed to register someone running up to him.

“Renjun-hyung!” the voice yelled, now next to him. Renjun’s first instinct was to hide his wrist.

He realized that the only person who will call him ‘hyung’ is Jisung. “Mr. Park, we’ve talked about calling me 'hyung'. And I distinctively remember saying that it is not your place to do so.”

“And I distinctively remember not agreeing to anything,” replied Jisung. _That damn brat! He got so cheeky!_

“Well, I advise you to stop.”

“Anyways, hyung, (Renjun face palmed) I want to give these to you,” the younger extended his hand, only to see watch and bracelets.

“Thank you, Mr. Park. I was just looking for them.”

“Renjun-hyung, can we really not go back to how we were before?”

 _So, this is what is about. They fucking know that I’m weak against Jisung!_ “Hmm… I think we are already back to how we were though?”

“What?” Jisung looked puzzled.

“Let’s recap how we were before. You ignored my calls, Chenle preferred to be anywhere but nearby me, Mark stopped taking to me, Hyuck was always busy, Jeno and Jaemin are always nearby me but we do not interact at all. Isn’t how it is now, Mr. Park? Oh, and you guys still hang out without me.” Before Jisung could reply anything, Renjun took the bracelets and with a faint, “thank you again,” left.

The conference room was dead silent. Seeing him after so long and hearing him telling their mistakes to their faces left them emotionally drained.

“I-I can’t… I don’t think we can do anything at this point, Jeno-hyung,” sobbed Chenle. Jisung seeing the distressed state of his boyfriend, couldn’t hold his own tears.

“Jaemin, Jeno… I think we- we should let him be…” whispered Donghyuck. He wasn’t doing much better than the maknaes. Mark quietly hugged his husband.

“Whether we can or not, we should do something about this!” shouted Jaemin. “No way I’m repeating the same mistake,” he cried. “We lost him ones… I can’t do it again. Not when we just found him again.”

When Renjun left Dreamies during that lonely winter break, he took an important piece from everyone. Mark lost his own pillar of strength, Hyuck lost his other half, Chenle lost his older brother, Jisung lost his protector, and Jeno and Jaemin lost their love. Yes, they lost the person they loved. After Renjun left, they realized how much they missed the older.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

When they returned from winter break, Jeno and Jaemin immediately realized that something was off in the apartment – it no longer smelled like home. They noticed that there were no longer shoes scattered at the entrance, no Moomin plushie that Renjun adored on the couch, and most importantly, there was no longer Renjun.

“Renjun?” called Jeno.

“Injunnie?” yelled Jaemin. He frantically went to every room. Not finding the older, he cried “Jeno, I think he left…”

“Jaemin-a, come here.” As Jaemin walked into the kitchen, he saw Jeno crying while reading a note.

_Dear Nana and Nono,_

_Firstly, I would like to say that I love you. I know you probably don’t want to hear it again but since this is the last time: I love you, from the bottom of my heart, to the moon and back, and as much as there are stars in the universe._

_Now that we got it out of the way, I want to say thank you. Thank you for befriending me back in high school. Thank you for surrounding me with people I could call my people. Thank you for showing me that there is so much more in this world than just my world. Thank you for teaching me that there is no limit to how much I can love._

_I would like to say that I wish I could stay with you for the rest of my life. And trust me, I would do just about anything for that. But with the way things have been lately, I think I overextended my welcome in your lives._

_So, for the last part I would like to say that I’m sorry. I know you probably don’t feel like reading my apologies – especially taking into account everything that is happening, but I think I own everyone that much. I’m sorry for not being a good friend to you. I’m sorry for spacing out to my own world when we were hanging out together. I’m sorry for barging into your lives without asking. But most importantly, I’m sorry to have fallen in love with you. I’m sorry that it felt like I was trying to break the two of you apart. Believe me, it was never my intention, after all I love both of you. I’m sorry that you had to go through a fall out with a friend. I’m glad that you at least have the rest of Dreamies. I wish you all the best._

_I love you. Thank you. I’m sorry._

_P.S. Tell Dreamies that I love them and am grateful for everything they had done for me._

_Best wishes,_

_Dong Renjun_

“What the… why would he write this?” sobbed Jaemin. He felt sick of himself. He didn’t realize how much he had hurt the older until he fucking shoveled it in his face.

“We are too late…” whispered Jeno to a place he once called home.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

After Renjun confessed his love for both of them. Jaemin and Jeno had no idea what to do. The only natural course of events was of course to reject Renjun, and so they did. What they did not expect was for Renjun to be so ready to accept the rejection. In fact, they were ready to be all awkward and trying to calm a crying Renjun down. Instead, they got a somewhat shaky, “I knew that” and “don’t mind it too much, let’s continue to be friends.” And they did promise him that nothing will change, albeit a few weird moments here and there but nothing too damaging.

Except when Dreamies caught up with the weird tension in the air, they asked JaemJen about it. But they didn’t want to put Renjun in a situation; it is not their place to tell his truths, so they just dodge the question.

But even though they tried to act like nothing happened, and not alert the group, it didn’t mean that they were successful. Every gathering became more and more uncomfortable. Little jokes that were thrown here and there became unnatural, things that were done unconsciously now became staged, and atmosphere dropped down way too often.

Not understanding what was going on, Dreamies made their own conclusions: it must’ve been Renjun’s fault. Since Jaemin and Jeno refuse to tell them anything that is related to him, and Renjun acts like nothing is wrong, it must be his fault. Of course, with that realization came the desire to distance themselves from the smaller male. He is the one who brings the mood down after all.

Decision came too fast and soon everyone stopped hanging out with him. Jaemin and Jeno realized that he was always missing from their group hang outs. They realized that but they did nothing. No, there were actually quite happy to be free of the tension. But what they didn’t realize was the depth of cuts their action left on the Chinese male.

So, when Dreamies planned their yearly winter break, they decided to deceive Renjun and tell him that everyone is going home to visit their parents. Jeno and Jaemin felt bad for lying to their flatmate, but they did want to be worry-free. Except they saw the flash of hurt in his eyes, and it hurt them too. But there was nothing they could do. No. There was nothing they wanted to do.

They really did want to keep that trip a secret, and yet Chenle forgot about it and posted a picture of them on his Instagram account… which Renjun follows. And only once he liked the post and commended, “glad you are enjoying vacation, Lele 😊” they realized their mistake.

“Chenle, you are a big fucking idiot,” scolded Hyuck.

“I know, hyung! No need to rub it in my face!”

“Well I don’t think it matters much anyways. We were thinking of stopping being friends with him anyways,” said Jisung.

Now that was something that Jaemin and Jeno did not expect. “What do you mean ‘stop being friends’? He is still part of Dreamies though.”

“Jeno-hyung, I don’t know if you noticed or not, but right now no one particularly likes to hang out with him. And he makes the atmosphere in the group bad,” explained Jisung.

“About that… I was meaning to ask, but why are you so against him? I don’t remember him doing anything wrong to you guys,” asked Jaemin. He was actually really puzzled by their actions.

“Jaem, it’s not that he did something to us, but rather did something to you.”

“What Hyuck so eloquently tries to say is that something happened. And that something is so bad that you refuse to say what it is to us,” added Mark. “And well, we made our own conclusion that it must’ve been his fault since you guys refused to talk about it, or anything related to him.”

Feelings of dread dawned on JaemJen. They realized just how much they fucked up by not explaining the situation in detail. And so, they decided to tell them what happened. They didn’t want guys to think that Renjun was to blame for everything.

“Are you being serious right now?” asked Mark. “You made everything weird and shit because of that?!” Mark felt like the worst human being. He didn’t like doing unjustifiable things, and this seemed like one of these moments.

“Hyung, please tell me you are joking?! You mean to tell me that I rejected Renjun-hyung’s calls because of this?!” shouted Jisung.

“Jaemin, Jeno, you do realize that you’ve fucked up, right?” Hyuck had tears flowing down his eyes. He did not expect that something as silly as this made him lose his trust in his soulmate.

But even though everyone bombarded them with questions, there was nothing they could say. Because they finally realized how much damage they did to the group by trying to keep everything to themselves.

“We didn’t want to expose his secret…” whispered Jeno.

“And so instead let us treat him like shit? When he didn’t even deserve it?! Why didn’t you say anything earlier? Before we took things too far?” shouted Mark. Seeing him so mad was very unusual. In fact, they only saw him this mad once before.

“We didn’t think it would go this far! But we also liked the space and peace his absence brought! You know how hard it is to endure the tension in your own fucking home?” defended Jeno.

“Didn’t mean we couldn’t hang out with him separately. Hyung, you know how many times he ringed me and Jisung? Only for us to either reject his calls or make up excuses?”

“You fucked up big times… Once I get back, you can expect me to live with you three because I WILL cuddle the shit out of him! I can’t believe I abandoned him when he needed me the most...” Hyuck stood and left the living room area.

“Well, we still have a week of vacation remaining, let’s make a plan to get our best friend back and correct our mistakes,” said Mark to everyone, then quietly whispered to Jeno and Jaemin, “follow me.”

Once in a secluded area, confused Jaemin asked, “Hyung, what are we doing here?”

“I just want to know why you rejected him?”

“What do you mean, hyung? Literally Jaemin and I are already dating?”

“Oh, come on guys. We live in 21st century, there is a concept known as polyamory.”

“Of course, we know that! But we never thought of him that way.”

“Huh? Wait, for real?” now Mark was hella lost. All this time he thought that his friends had feelings for the smaller boy. “You mean to tell me that all the hugs, cuddles, and kisses were platonic? You fucking with me right now?”

“What do you mean? Of course, they were platonic,” responded Jaemin and Jeno.

“Wow… you guys are so far in denial?” Jaemin and Jeno gave him a look. “Are you seriously telling me that your heart never skipped a beat around him? Or that you never imagined what his lips taste like?” All he got was a silence. “Thought so. Now, please clean up this mess. Figure out your feelings for the poor boy, and be happy together,” and with those words he left them be.

They didn’t speak after that. Not that they needed to because they understood each other. They knew what the other was thinking. After that they decided to make their own plan on winning him back.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

“Mr. Jung?” knocked Renjun.

“Yes, please, come in Mr. Huang,” responded Dongyoung. _Well at least someone recognizes the need to be professional_. “How may I help you today?”

“Yes, I was wondering if you can transfer me back to Beijing?”

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, I just do not believe that I would be able to satisfy the needs of the company with the level of skills I currently possess.” _Please, please, please let me go._

“Ah, Jeno did mention that I should be expecting you with such request just now,” commented Dongyoung. _Huh? Jeno? He just calls him by his name???_ Seeing the confusion on his face Dongyoung answered, “I’m his cousin, Mr. Huang. And I have a direct request from him to convince you to stay here.”

“Cousin?!... Why does that make sense to me?...” sighed Renjun. “Mr. Jung, please, is there nothing I can do to get transferred back?” pleaded Renjun.

“No. And Jeno aside, your qualifications are too good to pass an opportunity to have you,” answered Dongyoung with finality. “However, I can arrange a transfer of one of your friends to this branch. This is me apologizing for my stupid cousin and that stupid husband of his." At that moment Renjun realized that Dongyoung knew way more than he let on.

“Well, in that case, would it be too much if I request two of my friends? Seeing how there are two people at fault?” He knew he was playing dirty, but there is no way he will separate them love birds.

“You will do well in this firm,” smiled Dongyoung. “Names?”

“Wong Yukhei and Lee Young Qin.”


	7. Chapter 6

It happened a couple of days later. On a beautiful Tuesday afternoon, a particular yell of “how dare you do this to me” could be heard from Dongyoung’s office.

“Taeil-hyung, Yuta-hyung, please calm down.”

“Jung Doyoung! I will literally annihilate you! You can’t just transfer me there; I barely speak Korean! And you want me to better my Chinese?” yelled Japanese male.

“Ugh… I don’t really have much of a choice since our dear Jaemin and Jeno fucked up this bad! And who would’ve thought that 'The Renjun' that then talked about would be this Renjun???”

“So how come we get transferred?” asked Taeil.

“Because Jeno asked to not approve Renjun’s request to transfer back. I had to strike a deal with the devil you know. It was only supposed to be one-person exchange, but he literally left me with no choice but to transfer two,” whined Doyoung.

“Ugh, I hate you!” the moment these words flew out of Yuta’s mouth, someone knocked on the door.

“Mr. Jung? This is Renjun.”

“Yes, please come in.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Jung, Mr. Moon and Mr. Nakamoto. I heard shouts, is everything okay?”

“Ah yes, everything is good. These people are just getting transferred to Beijing.”

Renjun closely looked at them, examining their faces, and smiled, “thank you for doing such a good deed for my sake.”

“Dude, you were right about calling him a devil,” whispered Taeil.

“Mr. Moon, I can assure, I am no devil,” smiled Renjun. “I’m more than sure that you will enjoy Beijing. By the way, are you two dating?”

“Why does it matter to you?” snapped Yuta. Okay, he was kinda really mad.

“No, just wondering if there is a reason it’s the two of you,” innocently smiled Renjun.

“Yes, they are dating, Mr. Huang.”

“Shame, I was going to set you up with my brother.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, don’t mind me. By the way, Mr. Jung, when can I expect my friends?”

“Next week.”

“Thank you,” bowed Renjun and was about to leave when he faced Yuta and Taeil, “when you go to Beijing, say hi to brother, Dong Sicheng. I think you will love him.”

“What did just happen?”

“This is the infamous Dong Renjun? The one that was put through shit by Dreamies?”

“Yuta! Please be more tactful,” scolded Doyoung.

“What? I’m just stating the truth. Especially after seeing him. Doyoung, he is so tiny, and he carried such heavy weight on his small shoulders?”

“Yeah, let’s hope that they can fix this. In the meanwhile, pack your things! Or I’ll make sure Jaehyun never goes out drinking with you again!”

“You can’t do that!” whined Yuta.

“Try me.”

“Renjun,” called Youngho.

“Yes, hyung?”

“Wanna grab lunch with me and Woo?”

“Yes! What were you thinking about?”

“Just going to cafeteria. We have too much work to be eating outside right now,” complained Jungwoo.

“Hahaha, you aren’t wrong. Shall we?”

“Yeah,” stood up Renjun and followed Youngho. He truly liked spending time with them. He feels like he could maybe make connections in Korea as well; connections that didn’t bring pain to him.

“Hey, I was meaning to ask. You know, are you, by any chance the same Renjun that the Dreamies lost? It’s not a very common name I think,” cautiously asked Youngho.

 _Ugh, not him too. Just when I thought he was cool_. “No, I don’t know any Dreamies you mentioned before.”

“Oh okay.”

“Why are you asking?”

“Nah, just wanted to know whose substitute I was.”

“Substitute?”

“Yeah. When Mark and Hyuck were getting married, Mark wanted this Renjun guy to be his best men. He didn’t mean to say it, but we were drunk. I wasn’t hurt though I did get curious. At that time, I knew Mark for about ten years. I was really surprised when he asked me, I thought he would ask one of the Dreamies. But he said it didn’t feel right,” explained Youngho.

Renjun was surprised. _Mark-hyung and Hyuck are married? What the hell? Last time I saw them, their asses were so far in denial? And Youngho knows Mark-hyung for this long?_ “Oh, I didn’t know Mr. Lee and Mr. Lee were married.”

“That’s all you got from this story?” laughed Jungwoo.

Renjun just shook his head and continued walking in silence. That is until they heard, “Johnny-hyung!”

“Mark, my dude! How are you?” asked Youngho, or apparently Johnny.

“'Johnny'? I thought your name was Youngho?” questioned Renjun. _That makes so much sense. Mark-hyung always talked about a friend named Johnny who lived in Chicago. That must be him._

“You know I transferred here from Chicago, right? Well, I actually grew up there, so my birth name is John, but my Korean name is Youngho.”

Renjun was about to respond, when Mark interrupted him. “Renjun, how have you been?”

“Mark, you know Injunnie here?” asked Jungwoo.

Upon hearing Jungwoo calling Renjun “Injunnie”, he couldn’t help but ask, “since when do you allow strangers to call you ‘Injun’?”

“Mr. Lee, I said it once and I’m going to say it again: drop the familiarities please. And there is a lot of things you do not know about me, Mr. Lee. That being said, Youngho-hyung, Jungwoo-hyung, I’ll see you in cafeteria, I got some stuff to finish up.”

“I see that this is the infamous Renjun?” asked Johnny.

“Yeah…”

“He is really different from what I expected. Though he does look like someone who wouldn’t stand by and see people mistreat him.”

“You got that one right. You know that when people made fun of his height, his words are so poisonous he could make you question your own worth,” laughed Mark.

“You really did miss him, huh?” asked Jungwoo.

“You have no idea.”

“So, what are you guys planning on doing?”

“I don’t know, hyung. As you can see, he doesn’t want to be associated with us whatsoever,” Mark was honestly desperate.

“How about we help you interact with him?” asked Johnny.

“What do you mean?”

“Renjun likes us and is more than happy to eat lunch with us. How about we bring him with us, and just like today, you come with us half-way there?”

“Hmm… I don’t know if that would work. He is pretty smart to fall for that.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“True that. Let’s do that then!”

Little did they know, however, that Renjun Protection Squad is about to land in Korea.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading and waiting for the updates! Hope the story wouldn't disappoint!  
> Also NCT 127 made a comeback yesterday... and like damnnnnn!!!! It's such a BOP!!! Stream Kick It y'all!

“Ya, Huang Renjun!” someone shouted. _Hm? That voice sounds oddly familiar?..._ “Where is Huang Renjun?!”

“Ten-ge???”

“’Ten-ge?’ he asks? Of course, it’s me! Who else would it be after you’ve put that damn request?! How dare you…” but Ten wasn’t able to finish his sentence when he suddenly got hugged by the said boy.

“Ten-ge!!! I missed you so much,” sobbed Renjun, automatically switching to Chinese. “Is Yukhei also here? Please tell me he is also here.”

“Renjun,” whispered voice next to him, the voice that calms him down so much.

“Yukhei…” whispered Renjun back and hugged the living daylights out of him and without realizing tears found their way on his beautiful face.

“Hey baby, don’t cry. We are still in the office,” said Yukhei. Although he didn’t understand what was going, he knew that he had to take Renjun away. “Baby, come on, let’s go somewhere where there are less people.”

“Excuse me, may we take Renjun on a break?” asked Ten.

“Well, it’s almost lunch time anyways, but he usually eats with us. And who are you anyways?” asked Youngho. He was worried that these people would take away Mark’s opportunity to interact with the youngest.

“We are from the Beijing branch. Renjun placed a request to have us transferred here because, according to Qian Kun, he doesn’t feel too comfortable,” explained Ten. “And now, since it is almost lunch time, we will be taking our leave.” And without waiting for a response back, he whisked him away.

Ten and Lucas decided to take Renjun to one of the unoccupied conference rooms. “Explain,” commanded Ten, “why are we suddenly called here and why did Kun so ‘nicely’ asked us to protect you?”

“God, you are as bossy as I remember you to be,” smiled Renjun. “Honestly, I don’t know why he would say to protect me, unless Mr. Kim said something to him. But I really do need you guys.”

“But why? Are you being bullied here? Stalked? Threatened?” worried Yukhei.

“No, you, giant. However, I ran into people that I never wanted to face again. I don’t know if you remember, but I told you once about my past: why I left Korea, why I always wear bracelets, and why I am so reluctant to accept people in my life. Well the answers to these questions are here,” explained Renjun. Ten and Yukhei are two of the few people who Renjun considers his friends – dare he say, even family.

“No fucking way! You mean to tell me that Kun-ge sent you here even though those assholes are here as well??” shouted Lucas. It was rare to hear him swear but that’s how Renjun knew that he was truly mad.

“No, no, don’t blame him. I don’t think he knew that. Remember that former CEO retired right, well his successor or, rather, successors are… um… Jaemin and Jeno.” The moment these names escaped Renjun lips, the hatred sparked in Yukhei’s and Ten’s eyes.

“You gotta be kidding me!” shouted Ten. “In that case, are the rest of Dreamies also here??? Please tell me they are not,” begged Ten. He really hoped that they weren’t, but Renjun’s lack of response told him that it was true.

“So? Have they tried anything?” wondered Yukhei.

“Actually, they tried to stage an intervention.”

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, they basically staged a meeting, and since I’m here as a financial consultant, I had no choice but to attend. However, when I arrived, only Dreamies were there. And you know what the best part was?”

“What?”

“They fucking told me that they want to be my friends again! They had the fucking AUDACITY to call me their ‘best friend’.” Renjun was getting mad just thinking back to that day.

“Well,” said Ten nonchalantly, “they won’t be able to do that anymore, since we were also added to the project as financial consultant team.”

“No way! That makes no sense though? Mr. Kim had to talk to Mr. Park from marketing department to have them transfer Mr. Nakamoto and Mr. Moon.”

“But here we are. I honestly don’t know what’s going on, but we are assigned to the same position as you so any official meeting regarding reconstruction of financial system will have to involve us too,” winked Yukhei.

“I am so happy to hear this!” And he really did because there was no else he would rather have in this situation. “In which case, you will be getting lunches with me starting today! Because Youngho-hyung has been staging meeting with me and Mark Lee.”

“Anything for you baby.”

“By the way, did they provide accommodations for you?”

“Yeah! And it is really nice, except we would need to buy a separate bed,” laughed Ten.

“Why? You got a one-bedroom, right? Since you are a couple and all,” wondered Renjun.

“Yeah, about that… Ten-ge and I broke up about a week or so ago,” smiled Yukhei. Just when Renjun was about to apologize, Yukhei continued, “There is nothing to be sorry about. We realized that we work better as friends. And we still are if you couldn’t tell.”

“Xuxi is right, Jun. We split on very friendly terms. There were even no tears involved.”

“I’m sad to hear that since you were really cute together, but if you guys say that everything is good then I believe you. But only because Ten-ge reassured me.”

“Junnie! How could you be so mean to me?” cried Yukhei. But all Renjun did was stick his tongue out.

“By the way, we have about thirty minutes left to get lunch. Wanna head down to cafeteria? Familiarize yourself with the place?”

“That sounds like a good idea, Jun!”

On the way to cafeteria, Lucas and Ten reflected back on their conversation during the breakup.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

“Xuxi, I think it would be better if we break up.”

“I think so too, Ten-ge,” with a sad smile agreed Yukhei.

“I’m glad you are realizing this too. But do you know why I’m breaking up with you?” Ten really wanted him to understand his reasoning so that there won’t be any hard feelings.

“It’s because I’m still in love with Renjun.”

“Phew, I’m glad we are on the same page,” smiled relived Ten.

“Well, to be honest, I was gonna call this off soon anyways. You just beat me to it,” confessed Yukhei, “I don’t think I can get over someone like Renjun.”

“I’m just curious, why do you love him so much? Isn’t it too much baggage in one person?” Ten was really protective of Renjun. No matter what or who it was, he won’t let anything, or anyone hurt Renjun again.

“Ge, you’ve seen him. He is the strongest person I know. Yes, he has a lot going on, but that it something that makes him ‘Huang Renjun’. Without his traumas and experiences, he wouldn’t be who he is today. And not only is he strong, but he also knows how to use his strengths to be the best person he could be. He is witty with a sharp tongue, and I absolutely love that about him.”

“Okay… you pass my approval in courting Renjun again,” smiled Ten. He was honestly happy that there was someone like Yukhei in Renjun’s life. And even though he did have feelings for the younger, he knew a lost battle when he saw one.

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

“We are here,” announced Renjun. “What got you so spaced out?”

Ten and Yukhei looked at each other and smiled a knowing smile, “Nothing much.”

As they were getting their kimchi jjigae, Ten and Yukhei saw Renjun tense up as he looked at the table behind them. Following his gaze, they noticed how a group of six people were having a staring competition with him.

“Renjun,” gently called Yukhei, “why don’t we sit there?” He pointed to the furthest table in the cafeteria. Realizing that they must’ve noticed, he nodded, gratitude showing on his face.

“So, who is who in that group? You never showed us pictures and we have to know the enemy to make sure we know who we are dealing with.”

“Okay. The one with black hair and seagull-like eyebrows is Mark Lee. The boy next to him with light brown hair is Lee Donghyuck, his husband. Next is the boy with green hair, he is Chinese, his name is Zhong Chenle. Beside him is his boyfriend with dark brown hair, Park Jisung. Lastly, the guy with pink hair is Lee Jaemin and the guy with black hair and a face like Samoyed is Lee Jeno.”

“They are rather handsome,” commented Yukhei.

“Yeah, well, I have good tastes when it comes to men,” responded Renjun. _Honestly, you are one of the finest examples of that. Just because I broke with you doesn’t mean that you still aren’t one of the most handsome people, I’ve ever seen… No, you are the most handsome one._

“Anyways, let’s forget about them. Tell me about what happened while I was away. Did Taeyong-hyung proposed to Kun-ge??? Did Hendery and YangYang get their shit together??”

While discussing his friends’ love life, not only did he completely forget about Dreamies, he also didn’t notice how much staring was going on. He felt good to once again be surrounded by people who never betrayed him; people who understood him; people who loved him unconditionally; his people.


	9. Chapter 8

Two days after Yukhei and Ten arrived at the company, Jeno arranged a meeting – a real one this time – to discuss the project and future plans. At first, the Dreamies seemed to doubt Ten’s and Yukhei’s ability to adapt due to the lack of language. But they proved them otherwise, especially after Ten was able to pinpoint every single problem with previous plans, and Yukhei gave stellar recommendations.

Since that meeting, Dreamies really began disliking the two. Not only were they taking away any opportunity to talk with Renjun, they were also the ones whom Renjun considered his best friends – something that they were once to him. Thus, the next couple of weeks were pretty awkward and nothing really happened.

Until one day, Renjun found a Moomin shaped cookie on his desk. _Why is it here? Who would put this here? And Moomin? That’s hella cute!!!_ “Ten-ge, did you or Yukhei put this on my table?” wondered Renjun.

“No, but whoever did it must be really thoughtful. You freaking love Moomin, more so than you love your own friends.”

“That’s because Moomin is cute, and you are not,” Renjun stuck his tongue out.

“Did you just call me ugly?!” Ten was so offended.

“No, of course not, ge. I just called you… wait, actually yeah.”

“You little…” Ten started but was interrupted by Dongyoung.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing, sir. I was just wondering who left this cookie on my desk. It is extremely adorable, and I wanted to express my gratitude.”

“Oh, that cookie was left by Hyuckie. I saw him placing it about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Mr. Lee?” _What the actual fuck? Why would he leave a cookie? No way am I saying anything to him._ With that in mind, he put the cookie on Donghyuck’s desk.

“Jun, don’t you think that it’s kinda rude?” asked Yukhei.

“Look at my face and tell me, does it look like I care?” deadpanned Renjun.

“Okay, okay, you do you man. Anyways, wanna get lunch outside today? No offense, but I’m getting tired of cafeteria food, and we are ahead with our projects.”

“Actually, that sounds like a wonderful idea to me! Let’s go!”

Just as they walked out of the office, Chenle ran up to them, “Renjun-ge, do you want to get lunch with me and Jisung?”

“‘Renjun-ge’? You allowed him to call you ‘ge’?” whispered Ten. “I thought only YangYang was allowed to do that?”

“No, I didn’t. In fact, I told him on multiple occasions to stop, but as you can tell, the results are futile,” whispered Renjun back. Then, in louder voice, he responded, “Sorry, Mr. Zhong. But I’ll be getting lunch with Ten-ge and Yukhei today.”

“Renjun-geeeee,” whined Chenle, “you’ve been getting lunch with them since the day they arrived. And it’s not fair that they spend all the time with you.”

“Hmm… what so unfair about this situation? They are my people who came to Korea because I specifically requested them here. They are my best friends; my family. And I’ll spend as much time with them as I want. I do not believe you have any jurisdiction over how and with whom I spend my time, Mr. Zhong,” with that Renjun walked away dragging Yukhei with him.

Seeing dejected look on his face, Ten told him in Chinese, “I know you guys are trying to get him back. But I’ll tell you three things. One, do not try to get his friendship back. Because trust me, the amount of hurt you inflicted on him is not something that a lunch or a cookie, or even an apology can heal.”

“What do you even about this, Mr. Lee?!” shouted Chenle.

“Do not interrupt me, Mr. Zhong. I hate when people do that. And trust me, I know a lot,” smirked Ten. “Two, if you want his friendship back, show it to him by doing things that friends would do. If I remember correctly, the whole thing happened because every single one of you abandoned him.

“Lastly, tell Jeno and Jaemin to back the fuck off from Renjun. Huang Renjun will never love them back again; there won’t be anything more than a friendship. I’m saying that to save them a heartbreak – not that they deserve any saving,” and with that Ten followed Yukhei and Renjun.


	10. Chapter 9

“And then he told me to tell you that Renjun-ge will not love you back and you can give up on trying to get him back,” explained Chenle.

“Why would he say that though?” wondered Jeno.

“Probably because his ex is here and still has feelings for him,” responded Donghyuck.

“HUH?! His ex is here?! Who allowed that?!” yelled Jaemin.

“Doyoung-hyung did,” answered Mark.

“Let me ring him row quick! How dare he allowed that?!” yelled Jeno as he ferociously dialed Doyoung’s number. “Doyoung-hyung! What’s the meaning of this? Why is Renjun’s ex here?!?”

“ _First, don’t yell at me, I’m still older than you, mister. Second, I do not know who Renjun’s ex is, therefore, you cannot blame for bringing him here. If anything, you and Dreamies should be the one to blame.”_

“What do you mean it’s our fault? I don’t remember asking for his ex to come here? Much more that over-protective ‘Mr. Lee’.”

 _“Well, let me remind you then, how you did not listen to me when I told you to not corner him. Poor guy came to me, almost on the verge of a panic attack to tell me he wants to transfer back,”_ explained Doyoung.

“He wanted to what?!” shouted Jisung.

_“Yes, Jisung, he wanted to transfer because, I assume, he does not want to be associated with you. And I couldn’t blame him for it, by the way.”_

“You are always on his side…” whispered Mark.

 _“And I wonder why,”_ sighed Doyoung. _“But I convinced him to stay, and for that I had to sign contract with the devil himself. I swear, Renjun is scary,”_ at that, Dreamies laughed because he couldn’t be more right. _“Anyways, in exchange for staying, I allowed him to bring over here two of his friends.”_

“That makes sense why I haven’t seen Yuta-hyung and Taeil-hyung recently,” realized Donghyuck.

_“Is that all?”_

“Yes, thank you, hyung,” hanged up Jaemin. “So, what should we do?”

“I think, we should try to pursue him as a friend. However, Jaemin, Jeno,” Mark stared at them, “do not pursue as anything else.” Before they could protest, he continued, “I want to see him happy. And I don’t know if you trying to court him will make him happy. I don’t think he feels anything special for you two anymore.”

“But hyung, we want to show him that we love him,” whined Jeno.

“And I understand that. So, here is the deal: unless he shows that he still has special feelings for you, do not do anything that goes beyond simple friendship. If he shows that he is interested in his ex, let it be. If he shows he is interested in you, then you can pursue him. Understood?” Although dejectedly, Jaemin and Jeno nodded their heads.

They knew that they did not really deserve anything – much more love – from Renjun.

“Renjun”, called Yukhei.

“Yeah?”

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Hmm… binge watching ‘Moomin’!” smiled Renjun. And at that smile, Yukhei melted.

“Wanna get dinner together?”

“Sure! Ten-ge, wanna join us?”

Ten looked at Renjun and shook his head laughing, “I’m good, Jun. I have a date today.”

Yukhei silently thanked Ten and then perked at the word ‘date’, “You have a date? With whom? When did that happen?”

“Jeez, is it so hard to believe that I have a date? Me? Like the most beautiful and amazing person?” scoffed Ten.

“Ge, it’s not like that. Just… that was kinda fast,” defended Renjun.

“It better not be like that. Anyways, I’m going on a date with Johnny. He asked me out yesterday.”

“What the fuck? You are going on a date with Mark-hyung’s best friend? Traitor!”

“Whoa there buddy. That’s between you and them. All I’m doing is going on a date with a guy that I find attractive and who finds me attractive. That’s all. Trust me, the moment he asks about you, I’m walking out,” reassured Ten. In all honesty, he really hoped that it wouldn’t end there, because he does find him really attractive.

Renjun squinted his eyes, and suspiciously studies him, “Whatever you say.”

“By the way, where do you want to eat at?” asked Yukhei.

“Hot pot! I want hot pot!”

“Hot pot it is,” laughed Yukhei.

“Wait! I have a better idea!” shouted Renjun excitedly. “We can make hot pot at my house. I have everything needed, we just need to buy some groceries and we will be good.”

“Ohh, Junnie, here, is very brave. Not scared of inviting big boy Yukhei?” wiggled his eyebrows Ten.

“Please, ge, you know that he is the person I feel the safest with. It was like that before we dated, during, and after. Plus, he is a giant baby. Look at him,” he pointed at Yukhei, “that smile does not belong to someone bad.”

And Ten genially smiled at that, “You ain’t wrong.”

“Anyways, I gotta go now,” said Renjun. And as he was leaving, he looked back, “don’t forget, Yukhei! I’ll meet you downstairs at six.”

As Renjun disappeared, Yukhei blushed ferociously, and Ten just laughed at him, “Looks like I’m not the only one who has a date today.”

“Geeee, stop it. You know it’s not a date.”

“I don’t believe it. Plus, you guys went to hot pot dates all the time while dating. So, you better make your damn move today,” threatened Ten.

“I know. That’s why I asked him out.”

“Good. Well, good luck to both of us today then. I gotta go back to work as well.”

“Yeah, good luck to us. I’ll see you later, ge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for shorter chapters this update ㅜㅜ but I didn't know how else to write these parts. Hope you still enjoyed it! And don't forget to stream Kick It!


	11. Chapter 10

“Welcome to the Huang household! Though there isn’t much and it’s kinda messy,” laughed Renjun.

“Nah, you should see mine and Ten-ge’s apartment.”

“Yeah, neither you nor Ten are great at cleaning up,” said Renjun as he went to kitchen to set down bought groceries. “I need to change; do you want to change as well?”

“Yeah, that would be helpful.”

“Give me a second!” yelled Renjun as he ran to his bedroom.

While Renjun was changing, Yukhei looked around the living room. There was a Moomin plushie on the couch that he got for him on their date to an arcade. There were also many books about accounting and management. But what stood out the most to him was the shelf with pictures. Pictures of Kun-ge, Ten-ge, Sicheng-ge, Dejun, Guanheng, YangYang, and most importantly pictures of himself and Renjun.

One of the pictures particularly made Yukhei smile. It was a picture of Renjun and Yukhei at one of the company’s presentations after which he confessed to Renjun. He had his arm wrapped around Renjun’s shoulders while Renjun wrapped his arm around Yukhei’s waist.

“That’s actually my favorite picture,” whispered Renjun from behind.

“Whoa!!!” shouted Yukhei. “You scared me so much just now Junnie!!!”

“That was the point giant,” laughed Renjun. “Here are some clothes. I know you are like six times bigger than me, but these are the biggest pair of shorts and t-shirt I own, so hope that will help.”

“Alright, where is the bathroom?” Renjun directed him towards the bathroom.

While waiting for Yukhei to change, he began preparations for hot pot. As he was cooking, he smiled to himself because this felt exactly like when the two of them dated. And it warmed his heart.

“Need any help?” suddenly asked a voice.

“Nah, you are a hazard in the kitchen.”

“Hey! I improved!” defended Yukhei. But all he got back was the deadpanned look. “Okay, okay maybe not… but you don’t have to bully me,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay, I didn’t expect you to help in the kitchen, but if you want, you could set the table. Bowls and plates are in that drawer.”

“Ay, captain.”

“Dork,” smiled Renjun.

Once Renjun finished, he set the pot in the middle and Yukhei was practically salivating at the sight before him. “God, I missed your cooking so much.”

“Hehe, glad someone missed it.”

After that, conversation flowed between them. Both of them had this understanding that made conversation effortless and pleasant. They had similar overarching ideas but when it comes to details, that was where they differed. Yet, that’s what made them enjoy each other presence; they could learn from each other.

“Haaa, thank you for the food, baby. It is as good as I remember it.”

“I’m glad you loved it so much, giant.” And he truly was glad. _There is nothing more beautiful than to see you so happy._

Suddenly Yukhei turned serious, “Jun, actually I wanted to talk to you.”

“Sure…” answered Renjun unsurely. It was rare to see Yukhei so serious.

“I don’t want to beat around bush, so I’ll just say it.” Yukhei took a breath, “I love you, Renjun.” Before Renjun could say anything, Yukhei stopped him, “Let me talk first.”

Getting approval from Renjun, he continued, “I love you, Jun. I love you so much, I never actually stopped loving you. The reason why Ten-ge and I broke up was because we both could see that my heart still belongs to you. He was actually the one that broke up with me.

And I agreed with him as well. Because no matter what I did, no matter where I went, I always thought about you. I’m not going to lie to you, I liked Ten-ge, but the one I love will always be you.

I don’t expect an answer from you, especially right now when you are forced to face your past. But I did want to let you know that my intension is to pursue you. Allow me to win your heart, Jun.” Renjun was at a loss of words. The more he thought about it, the more Yukhei looked unsure.

Finally, Renjun spoke, “Since you didn’t lie to me, I’ll be honest with you as well. I’m still scared of relationships, especially now that I was reminded of what happened in the past. But I’ll tell you one thing from the bottom of my heart,” Renjun took a breath and closed his eyes and smiled, “you have absolutely no need to win my heart. You are still the best thing that has happened to me in a long while.”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ there,” smirked Yukhei.

“You know me so well,” chuckled Renjun. “But I do want time. And I know it’s not fair of me to ask you for more time – not after I broke up with you. But I also know that if I let you go again; I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. So, although not fair, can you give me time to make things official? At least until I come to peace with my past?” pleases Renjun.

“Of course, baby. I’ll give you as much as you need. I think you ruined me for other people anyways. However, do not expect me to just sit and do nothing. I’ll coddle you and love you. After all, you said till we make it ‘official’ so I can unofficially be your significant other!” exclaimed Yukhei. He was ecstatic to hear that Renjun still had feelings for him. Feelings that he was willing to explore.

“Well…” blushed Renjun because he honest to god did not expect this. “S-su-sure, that works though I do feel that it is unfair to you. You do not deserve to be called someone’s unofficial boyfriend. You are meant to be bragged about.”

“Why, thank you, Jun, for your kind words.”

“Shit! Did I say that out loud?”

“Yeah baby, you did. Also, it is my choice and I did say I’ll wait. So, am I allowed?”

“If you are sure, I can’t possibly stop you,” happily smiled Renjun.

“In that case, wanna cuddle and watch ‘Moomin’?”

“You know what, I might just marry you right now. You have the most brilliant ideas!”

“So, Mr. Huang, shall we?” he extended his hand.

“With pleasure, Mr. Huang” responded Renjun. And they spend their night cuddling, watching TV, and eventually falling asleep on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for posting this kinda late, but here it is! Hope you liked this turn of events! Also, I played with Lucas' name a little bit. He has like 3 names, and I usually call him Wong Yukhei in this work. But I thought it was cute that they also share last name in Lucas' Chinese name - Huang Xuxi - so yeah. 
> 
> Stay safe!


	12. Chapter 11

“Renjun! Wake up! We have to hurry up to work!” yelled Yukhei.

“Xuxi, today is Saturday,” grumbled Renjun.

“I know Jun, but Mr. Lee wants us to be present for a meeting. Apparently, it is an emergency,” he explained.

“What?!” he jumped out of bed and immediately got ready for shower when he noticed Yukhei wearing his yesterday’s clothing. “Sorry, I don’t have any suits that might fit you.”

“Nah, it’s fine. But can I take a shower after you?”

“Yeah, give me 15 minutes. Also, how much time do we have?”

“Well, it’s 7:21, and the meeting is scheduled for 9:30. So about an hour.”

“Alright, we have time for breakfast.”

After they got ready, Renjun made some waffles and fried some bacon. While eating, they forgot about time and were almost late – which caused Renjun to forget his cellphone.

“Drive faster Xuxi!” yelled Renjun.

“Jun, I refused to violate laws in another country!” At that, Renjun groaned. “Also, you keep calling me Xuxi,” smiled Yukhei.

“Really? Sorry about that.”

“No, no, I like it when you call me that.” Renjun blushed, memories from last night flowed into his mind.

Once Xuxi parked, they immediately ran to the conference room. Without looking around, they barged into the room and simultaneously bowed, “Apologies for being late to the meeting.” But upon not hearing response, they lifted their heads up and their eyes met with Dreamies.

Looking around they realized that Dreamies are the only people present. “Where are everyone else?” question Renjun.

“What do you mean everyone else? It was only supposed to be us and Mr. Wong,” responded Mark.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, we only sent message to Mr. Wong,” said Jaemin. Upon hearing that, Renjun decided to check his phone but realized that he forgot it.

“Sorry baby, I though you got the message as well. Shouldn’t have woken you up,” apologetically smiled Yukhei.

“Don’t worry, Xuxi,” calmed him Renjun.

Everyone in the room dropped their jaws at the exchange while JaemJen stared angrily at the couple. Just as Renjun was about to excuse himself, Chenle asked, “Renjun-ge, are you dating Mr. Wong?”

Renjun blushed and looked at Yukhei, but all Yukhei did was give him a reassuring smile. “I don’t think you have any business in our personal life, Mr. Zhong,” replied Yukhei. _Wow, it is nice to be protected by him like this. I can definitely get used to this. That’s really hot._

“And I don’t remember asking you.”

“Mr. Zhong,” warned Renjun, “I have to agree with Xuxi here. It is not your business.”

“Junnie…” pleaded Jaemin.

“Mr. Lee, stop it. My name is Huang Renjun, and I do appreciate if we can keep professional tone between us; we are not _friends_ after all.”

“But we are friends!” shouted Jisung.

Hearing that made Renjun laugh, “‘ _Friends’_? Good one, Mr. Park. I must say, you people have no shame. ‘Friends’ he says. Funny.”

“Can you at least listen to us?” begged Chenle.

 _Okay, I did not expect this_. He was puzzled by the question. “Listen to what?”

“Why we did what we did.”

 _Ah, they want me to listen to the round of their excuses._ “No.”

“Please, hyung,” said Jisung.

Just as Renjun was about to reject, Yukhei pulled him aside, “Baby, I think it would be a good idea to talk to them.”

“HUH??? Are you insane? You want me to listen to their excuses?!” he shouted making the occupants flinch.

“They may be excuses, but you need a closure. And I think that this is a good chance,” smiled Yukhei.

Signing, he Renjun turned around and said, “Okay, I’ll listen to you. Make sure to thank Xuxi though because had it not been for him, this conversation would have never happened

“But before we begin, I’ll lay three ground rules. One, Xuxi has to be here,” just as the Dreamies were to protest, Renjun added, “I don’t care if you think this is private because trust me, he knows everything.

“Second, stop glaring and being mean to Yukhei. If at any point I feel hostility towards him, I’m walking out of this door. I’m being really serious right now; I will walk out.

“Third, when one is talking the other one is not interrupting because I know you like to interrupt each other, and I hate it. That’s all. Who would like to start their List of Excuses?” _I hope that made them realize that this is how I will view anything they tell me._

“I guess I’ll start,” said Mark. “And since me, Hyuck, Chenle, and Jisung share same stories, I’ll be speaking on their behalf as well.

“To start with the most important, we would like to apologize. We acted like certified assholes and I would like to apologize for that. To be honest, we had no reason to avoid you.” At that, Renjun’s eyes grew wide, and he really wanted to question him, but he remembered his own rules.

“Yeah, believe it or not, the reason why we avoided you was because of a misunderstanding. Neither Jaemin nor Jeno shared anything about the entire situation until like the winter break you moved away.

“So, all we knew was that something happened between the two of you. Yet you seemed like nothing was wrong while JenJaem looked like they wanted to be anywhere but with you. And we asked them what happened, they didn’t tell us.

“Don’t get it wrong, I’m not blaming them. Just explaining. Anyways, they didn’t tell us, and we just made assumptions. You are fine, they are not, meaning you must have done something wrong to them.

“At first, we tried to ignore the situation but honestly the tension was too much. As the tension grew so did our dislike for you. That’s why we stopped hanging out with you. We didn’t even stop and think about asking your point of view or if you were okay.

“When we went to that ski resort without you, Jaemin and Jeno finally told us the whole situation. And trust me when I say this, we felt like complete shit. We had no problem with you loving them both; it was really because we made assumptions.”

Silence.

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?!!” screamed Renjun. “HAHAHA. You mean to tell me that I lost confidence in myself because of this? Because you couldn’t fucking talk to me?” To that, no one in the room had anything to say. “So, what’s your excuse?” he directed at Jaemin and Jeno.

“We don’t really have anything to say,” said Jeno. “The reason why we didn’t explain the situation to them was because we thought that it was not our place to tell your secret. We really thought we were doing you a favor.

“However, that does not excuse us from allowing them to continue their assumptions. We noticed that they didn’t call you to hang out and stuff. And to be honest, we really liked it that you weren’t there.

“Because even though we promised you that nothing would change, things did change. We couldn’t stop thinking about that confession; we became conscious of our actions. And it created tension which we were growing tired of.

“So, when we were able to get away from the tension, we took that chance. Until we realized the seriousness of the situation. But by the time we realized the situation, it was too late. You left.”

And before Renjun could respond, Jaemin added, “Another thing that we realized was that the tension was there because we were in denial.”

“In denial?” asked Renjun.

“In denial. Mark-hyung had to spell in out for us, but we realized that we loved you. We still do.” Renjun’s eyes widened. _What did he just say?_

“What the fuck did you just say?” _No fucking way he just said that._

“We love you, Renjun. And I know we fucked up, but we would like to start over and treat you how you deserve to be treated.”

He did not know what to say. _I wanted to hear these words so badly. Why are they telling me these words now?_ Without realizing, tears found their way on his face.

“Renjun,” whispered Yukhei as he wiped the tears away from his face. “Don’t cry. Not right now. It’s your turn,” he said as he reached for his hand. Renjun looked at him and squeezed his hand back. _He is right._

“Okay… whoa… I’m a little bit shook right now but I do have to say a couple of things. First of all, really guys? You ignored me because of that? If that was the real reason, then you know what? I’m glad I fucking left. I can’t believe that you had that little faith in me. You really did not deserve my friendship.

“I trusted you with everything I had, and this is how it was reciprocated? Can’t say I made a wrong decision then. You should’ve taken some lessons from my friends from Beijing on what it means to be friends.

“To Jeno and Jaemin, I honestly don’t know what to say. Because you just uttered the words, I always wanted to hear from you. And my heart is crying right now. I’m having a battle right now: brain says leave them, heart says love them. And I’ve always been the person to listen to my heart. But for once, I want to listen to my brain.”

Once they heard that, everyone in the room looked surprised, and then looked at Yukhei. Realizing what he just said, he regretted it. _Fuck! I completely forgot Yukhei was here._

However, before Renjun could apologize, he felt Yukhei loosing hold on his hand and smiling, “It’s okay, ba- Renjun. I kinda expected this. Ten-ge warned me. It’s okay to be honest with yourself. And that’s what I love the most about you. I think this is my cue to leave.”

But as he was about to leave, Renjun held him back. “Renjun, you have to let my hand go. I believe now you don’t need anymore.” Hearing that made him let go. And he walked out.


	13. Chapter 12

Walking out of conference room, Yukhei walked to the bathroom. He maintained his beautiful smile, but the moment he walked into a stall, the dam broke.

He honestly expected this. _Why are you crying? You knew that this would happen. Ten-ge warned you and he is never wrong about these things._

But it hurt so badly. He really did love Renjun with his entire being. His laugh, his wittiness, his intellect, his small stature, his big personality, his existence. He loved _everything_ about him. He felt that Renjun was still in love with his first loves. Even when they dated before. And though he hoped that Renjun would love him back, he knew that it would be a hard battle. _Which I just lost. It’s okay though. As long as he is happy. That’s all that matters to me._

Renjun looked at the closed door and a single thought ran in his head. He couldn’t handle it anymore. He felt himself losing a sense of reality.

“Renjun!” yelled Jaemin as he shook him. “Get a hold of yourself, Renjun.”

But no matter what they did, all he could think about was _Xuxi, Xuxi, Xuxi._ When Jisung yelled, “HYUNG!” did he finally snapped out.

“Huh?”

“Are you okay?” hesitantly asked Donghyuck.

 _Am I?_ “Yeah, I’m good,” mumbled Renjun. “I gotta go now.”

But what about…?” Jeno was about to ask but Mark shook his head telling him to let go. And with that Renjun walked out of conference room.

_Xuxi… I need to find him… But would he want to see me? Especially after everything I said? After everything I promised?_

He kept walking with no particular direction in mind, and by the time he stopped walking, he found himself in front of his department. Without knowing where else to go, he walked in only to have Ten staring at him.

Seeing tear marks on his face, Ten immediately ran up to him, “what happened?”

Remembering everything, Renjun broke down. “Geeeeeee! I’m such an idiot!!!” was the only thing he kept repeating.

“Junnie, I need you to calm down,” Ten was getting scared. He had never seen Renjun cry so much. But it made him cry even more.

After crying for ten minutes, he finally calmed down. “Ten-ge, I fucked up big times.”

“What happened?” And so, he explained everything that was said in the conference room.

“Please tell me you are joking,” whispered Ten, yet all he got was silence. “How could you even think about loving them?! You fucking insane?! After everything?”

“Ge, you don’t understand how long I’ve waited for these words.”

“How long you’ve waited? You waited for these words? Are you serious? Because Xuxi told you these exact same words more times than they did.”

“I know.”

“Oh, I know you know. And you still have audacity to say shit like that? I can’t believe you, Jun. Where is he now?”

“I’m here, ge,” said a voice from the doors. Hearing that voice, Renjun spun around and stared wide-eyed at Yukhei. “Also, don’t yell at him. He was only speaking truth. I would rather hear ugly truths than beautiful lies.”

Renjun noticed his red eyes. _He must’ve cried._

“Renjun, look at me,” smiled Yukhei, albeit a sad smile. Once they made eye contact, he continued, “It really is okay, Renjun. I told you I expected this. Please don’t cry. I promise you, it’s okay. We will be okay,” he hugged him.

New tears found their way, but he wiped them away. For some reasons, when Yukhei said that they would be okay, he believed him. However, he did have something he wanted to clarify.

“Xuxi, look at me,” they broke the hug. “I know I told them that my heart wants to love them, but I wasn’t lying when I said that my brain tells me to let them go. In fact, my brain tells me to love you. And I know it is extremely selfish to say this, but I can you give me a week. By the end of next Friday, I’ll decide what I’ll do with my life.”

Yukhei looked in his eyes, really looked at them, and all he could see was resolve. Resolve to conclude everything. “Okay, I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Also, can you please stop calling me ‘Renjun’? I fucking hate it so much.”

“Okay, okay baby.” The moment these words left Yukhei’s mouth, his face lit up.


	14. Chapter 13

It’s been five days since that talk. And just like Yukhei promised, nothing has changed. They still had their daily lunches; they still enjoyed each other’s company without any tension; they still called each other “Xuxi” and “baby”.

However, the only thing that did change was Renjun taking his time to analyze everything. He didn’t want to screw things this time around.

_If I allow them to become my friends, how much damage control would need to be done? Who is to say that they won’t do it again?_

But in these five days, Dreamies kept good to their promise on trying to win Renjun back. They no longer staged intervention nor did they stalk him. Rather, they chose to approach Renjun gently. They had simple conversations in-between breaks and during lunches while waiting in line. To many, it might not be the best way, but for Renjun, it was the best. He could tell that they came to respect his decisions.

He also thought about how it would feel to finally be with Jaemin and Jeno, but all he could come up was coldness and unfamiliarity.

_I don’t know these people. I remember how they were back then, but it would be foolish of me to think that they didn’t change. On top of that, they made my life a mess, who am I to say that they won’t do it again._

_On the other hand, Yukhei gave me nothing but love, support, and understanding. He is gentle with me both physically and emotionally. We know each other in and out. He has seen me at my worsts, and he stayed. He was there when I needed him the most. And most importantly, he is my best friend; we have a very special bond._

_God, the answer is so obvious. Why am I even hesitating? The best person for is literally in front of my nose. I might still love Jaemin and Jeno, but they can’t guarantee me anything. But with Yukhei, I don’t a guarantee, because I know how it will be. It’s time to close that chapter of my life._

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

On Friday morning, the first thing that Renjun did was knock on Jeno’s and Jaemin’s office, “This is Mr. Hua… this is Renjun.”

“Yes, you may come in,” responded Jeno.

“Hi Jeno, Jaemin,” greeted Renjun.

“H-hello, Renjun,” responded surprised Jaemin and Jeno.

“Can you do me a favor? Can you call the rest of Dreamies here as well? I have something to say to everyone here.”

At that moment, both men realized that Renjun was going to talk about what happened last week. Jeno immediately sent a text message to the group chat. Within two minutes, everyone was gathered at their office.

“What did you want to talk about, Renjun-hyung?” asked Jisung.

“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking for the past couple of days,” responded Renjun. “And I made a couple of decisions along the way. Decisions about bonds we shared, share, and will share in the future.”

Taking a deep breath, he began, “About offered friendship… I have to say that I am very reluctant to accept the offer. However, I do not reject it right off the bat. I would like us to start from basics. Let’s begin with acquaintance. I wasn’t lying when I said we are strangers. We don’t know the current versions of each other. So, I would like to start here, and we can see where it would take us?”

“Sounds good, Junnie,” smiled Hyuck. For the first time, Hyuck felt like he could genially feel at ease around Renjun presence.

“What about our apologies, ge? Do you accept these too?”

Renjun chuckled, “Yeah, I accept these too, Lele.” Once he heard that Renjun called him “Lele” instead of the usual “Mr. Zhong”, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Now, for the offer for courtship from you too,” he addressed Jaemin and Jeno. “I must decline that.”

“Why, Junnie?” sadly asked Jeno.

“When you first confessed to me, I told you that my heart tells me to love you and my brain tells me to leave you. And I thought about it really hard. And I realized a couple of things.

“One of them was that I am no longer the Renjun you used to know, actually I’m far from that. We don’t know each other, and I think that my heart yearns for love from Jaemin and Jeno of the past. 

“Second, Yukhei. One evening, I sat there, drinking my jasmine tea and watching Moomin, and I realized how nice it would be to have him next to me. I had this urge to call him. And it made me think that I want to spend the rest of my life with him cuddling me. I want to spend my eternity in the safety of his arms. My heart years for the past, but my brain years for the future. Thus, I chose the future.

“Lastly, I think that we would be better off as friends. I remember that before I fell in love with you back then, we had really good chemistry as friends. I loved that, and I kinda missed it. I hope we can become friends in the future. The offer I mentioned previously to Dreamies applies to you two as well.”

Once he finished talking, Jeno and Jaemin looked at each other, silently communicating. Then Jaemin spoke, “We are not going to pretend that we are okay hearing your answer, however, there is nothing we can do about it. And we will gladly take your offer for friendship. We are happy to have you back even as a friend.”

“Jaemin pretty much summarized everything I wanted to say. But I would also like to add that as long as you are happy, we are happy too. If Yukhei is your happiness, then we accept defeat. No hard feelings. For real this time,” added Jeno.

“Phew… I’m glad you guys accepted this. I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear, but this is the best I can do.”

“Jun, I’ll take this any day over what we had when you arrived here,” reassured Mark.

“Thanks, Mark-hyung,” said Renjun sincerely, and he could swear he saw Mark’s eyes tear up.

“Jun, would it be okay if we gave you a hug?” asked Hyuck.

“Come here, Hyuckie.” He opened his arms wide, and in a blink of an eye his arms were full of sun.

“I missed you so fucking much! You give the best hugs!”

“Okay, Donghyuck-hyung, you need to move! It’s my turn!” whined Jisung.

“Yeah, Donghyuck-hyung! You can’t just monopolize him like that!” complained Chenle.

Hyuck stuck his tongue, “Watch me.”

As the Dreamies bickered who gets to hug him next, he thought how nice it was to be back. _I could get used to this. Who am I kidding? I will definitely get used to this!_ And he smiled to himself. Until he remembered, “Ah, shit! I forgot!”

“What’s wrong. Jun?” asked Jeno.

“Jeno, Jaemin, I know it’s rude, but would it be okay if I leave the office right now?”

“Umm… the day just started? It is only ten in the morning,” said Jaemin.

“You’re right…” he dejectedly responded. _I mean who asks such a dumb question._

“Why? Something happened?” asked Mark.

“No, hyung. I just wanted to surprise Xuxi since I owe him for last week.”

“Hmmm… let me check something row quick, give me like five minutes,” said Jeno.

“Okay…”

Jeno went to give a phone call to Doyoung to see if Renjun could leave without getting penalized. After some convincing, he got Doyoung’s approval. “Hey, Jun. I just called Doyoung-hyung, and he said you can leave for today, if you stay overtime tomorrow.”

Renjun’s face lit up, “Are you serious? Thank you so much!” He ran up to him and hugged him, “Thank you!”

“You are welcome, Junnie. This is the least I can do,” he hugged him back. It was nice to have him back, even as a friend.

“Okay, I’m going to go then. I have a lot to prepare!” he let go and head for the door.

“Renjun!” shouted Jaemin. “We are having a dinner together on Friday! At seven!”

“Roger!”

“And bring Yukhei!”

He stopped for a second not expecting to hear that, “For real?...”

“Yeah, he needs to get our approval! I have a feeling we will be seeing him more often!” replied Hyuck.

Renjun laughed, “Got it! We’ll be there!” with that he ran out.


	15. Chapter 14

He had to hurry up. _This stupid traffic is ruining my plans!_ It’s already 16:49 and he is stuck in traffic from flower shop. _Come on people! I really really need to be there on time!_

After cursing and slowly moving through traffic, he finally arrived at the building at 17:09. _Shit, shit, shit! Please be there!_ He parked his car outside and ran up to the front desk, “Hello! Is Wong Yukhei still in the building?!”

“Mr. Huang, why don’t you go inside?”

“It doesn’t matter. Is he still in the building? It’s really important,” he asked frantically.

“Give me a second.” The receptionist called, “Good evening, is Mr. Wong still in his office?”

Renjun waited worriedly. “Yes, thank you so much, Mr. Jung,” hanged up, then looked at Renjun, “Yes, Mr. Wong is still in the building, him and Mr. Jung are currently in a meeting.”

“Thank you so much! Have good night!” he ran out. _Thank god! I can wait outside._ As he waited outside, he got the bouquet out. _I am so glad they still had red tulips. Now I need to make sure I remember my speech._

Renjun was so lost in making sure he remembered what he had to say, he didn’t notice Yukhei walking out. “Jun!”

Hearing his name, Renjun turned around and spotted Yukhei running up to him. “Hey, Xuxi!”

“What are you doing here? Waiting for Mr. Lee and Mr. Lee?” smirked Yukhei.

“Why would I be waiting for them?” frowned Renjun.

“Oh, I just thought that since you weren’t at work that that was your answer. Johnny-hyung also told me that you went to their office. I assumed you were with them.”

“I kinda wanna be mad at you right now,” signed Renjun, “but I can’t because I get where you are coming from. Anyways, my answer is this,” he said as he gifted him the bouquet.

“Red tulips? What does that mean?” puzzled Yukhei.

“In language of flowers, they mean ‘declaration of love’,” blushed Renjun.

“De… no way! Baby!” screamed Yukhei as he picked him up and hugged him.

“Yes way, giant! I love you. You are the one,” sniffled Renjun.

“I love you too. I love you so much. Thank you for choosing me,” whispered Yukhei.

“No, thank you. Thank you for loving me unconditionally, thank you for waiting for me, and thank you me for allowing me to stay with you,” that being said, he kissed Yukhei.

It wasn’t like it was their first kiss, but it might’ve as well been. It wasn’t heated. No, rather it was tender and slow. It felt like coming home after a long journey. _I am home. This is where I belong: in his arms._

They broke apart, “Come on, we have a reservation at a hot pot place that I wanted to go since forever.”

“Oh my god, you are the best. I love you so much,” he took his hand and let him to the car. “Let’s go, boyfriend.”


	16. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter! Thank you for enjoying this story!

“I am exhausted,” groaned Renjun.

“Hahaha, yeah I’m not surprised. I felt like I was dealing with four YangYangs,” laughed Yukhei.

“Remember how I said people change? Forget it, these people never change! I can’t believe Hyuck wanted to do a dance battle outside of the bar! What the hell? I’d take four YangYangs any day!” facepalmed Renjun.

It was the promised Friday night dinner. Initial plan was to get dinner and get to know each other again. BUT, no, Hyuck and Chenle thought it would be a great idea to go bar hopping because, according to them, “there is nothing better than familiarizing yourself while drunk.” And not even Mark could’ve stopped them.

“Hey, but they were right. We did learn a lot about each other.”

“If by ‘a lot’ you meant Mark’s and Hyuck’s bedroom life, then I never wish to learn anything about them. That person literally has no filter. How could a person such as Mark marry that walking disaster?”

“God, Renjun! That’s not what I meant! And why would you even remind me of that? I need bleach!” complained Yukhei. Honestly, it was pretty traumatic because Hyuck really had no filter. “I meant like it was nice listening to their stories about their lives.”

“… Okay, yeah. I agree with you on that.” If factoring out Hyuck’s indecent commentary, they did talk a lot about their lives in college and after Renjun left. They talked about weddings, how Jeno and Jaemin ended up as CEOs, their traveling experiences, and how they still have yearly winter vacation together. To which they invited both Renjun and Yukhei.

After changing, Yukhei cuddled with Renjun on the bed. “Baby?”

“Yeah?”

“I want to ask. What made you choose me over them? I’m curious.”

“Is it really important? You are here with me now.”

“Nah, just intrigued. I was shook. I did not expect you to choose me to be honest.”

They laid in silence for a minute, until Renjun finally explained, “I’m not going to lie, for the first couple of days, I had a hard time. But one day, I was just sitting there, and I realized how much I wanted you next to me at that moment. Then I realized that it wasn’t just that moment; I wanted you there, next to me, for the rest of my life. It was like an epiphany.

“I understood what my heart and brain wanted. I completely misunderstood them. My heart yearned for the past – for the love I imagined to have with Jeno and Jaemin. My brain wanted to be with you because it knows that you are my future.

“But what my heart was also telling me was that that love was right in front my face. That you gave me that love as well. It wasn’t ‘who’ that my heart yearned for, it was ‘what’ it yearned for. After that, the answer was pretty much decided.”

Yukhei couldn’t help but start crying, “I love you, my flower.”

“Why are you crying? And why ‘flower’?”

“Silly, must you ask? I’m crying because I’m really happy. Happy to hear you thinking of me like that. And flower because you confessed to me using flowers.”

“Sooo cheesy, but so you,” laughed Renjun. “Love you too, my gentle giant.”

In some situations, it is better to let go of feelings you once felt in the past. Rather than thinking, “I want this relationship because this is how it would’ve been,” it’s better to see what life has to offer in the present. Past feelings are feelings of how things were in the past. It is naïve to think that people you once loved didn’t change. Therefore, feelings of the past are feelings for people of the past. Take a step forward, look around, but don’t look too far because the answer might be much closer than you think it is. As Lao Tzu once wrote, “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. When I let go of what I have, I receive what I need.” Don’t be afraid of letting go thing, be afraid of missing out chances to get something better.


	17. Thank you

Thank you so much for reading this story. It's my first fic in a long while! Hope you liked LuRen in the end. I felt like it was a right thing to do (tbh though, I was projecting on Renjun lol). 

Also, I didn't really want to make Dreamies do something completely extraordinary to regain Renjun's trust back. Sometimes, it's better to just let a person be and instead take a subtle approach like Dreamies did by doing small conversations. So I thought it would be more fitting. 

Anyways, thank you so much for reading this! I enjoyed writing it! Hope you enjoyed reading it!


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